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Hey! I'm Jillian Bejtlich. I’m a lifelong New Englander with a serious love of the outdoors, adventure, and a pretty serious inability to sit still. I’m plagued by the travel bug, and it seems I’ll try any relatively sane and safe thing once. My big goal in life: Get people outside!

Keep Trekking: 2013 Plans

I know it’s been a long time since I posted. Like embarrassingly far too long. But the basic fact is sometimes you just need a break from well… everything.

See, as last winter approached I was in the midst of planning this awesome eight week long snowboarding sabbatical. It was unlike anything I had ever done before and I was insanely psyched to try something new. A new lifestyle altogether in fact. Soon enough, those eight weeks came and went with awesome days on snow, plenty of lessons learnt, and a whole lot of reviews. I met a ton of incredible people, came to love New England even more, and learnt a whole new way of life. In a single word, those eight weeks were pretty “epic” to me.

When you spend a big chunk of time totally stoked on life and what you’re doing, it almost seems natural to fall into a funk afterwards. You suddenly start feeling like it’s so much harder to have an epic experience. One incredible day just doesn’t satisfy the craving for adventure.

What’s a lost adventurer to do? Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from the great outdoors and adventures – it’s to keep trekking forward. Stopping to sulk about overcast days, broken gear, and stuff like that doesn’t get you any closer to incredible summits, phenomenal sends, and sweet powder stashes. With that said, it seems that it’s time to set some new goals and come up with some brand new plans.

The kayak I’ve been eyeing up at EMS for months now. =)

So what’s in store?

I’m putting the New England snowboarding list on hold (even though I sort of checked off two more places already this season) and going to have some snowboard fun away from home. This time next week, I’ll be making sure (for the twentieth time) that Rob and I are all packed up for an early Saturday morning flight for 10 days in South Lake Tahoe (one of my two favorite places on Earth). And a month after that we’re headed to Canada to visit the lovely Mont Tremblant! Goal: Snowboard wherever and whenever. Have fun and enjoy traveling.

I’m going to whitewater raft a river I’m insanely terrified of. U.S. Rafting has ever so kindly offered to bring the entire Adventure Crew back up again in June, but this time to do the Penobscot River in Northern Maine. Goal: If this doesn’t force me to confront my fear of water, I don’t know what will. More specifically, don’t freeze up and turn into a moron when I get thrown out of the raft.

On the subject of that whole confronting water fears, Rob and I are getting kayaks (soon)! And then I’m going to learn how to properly roll it, tackle rivers, waves, and tell my aqua phobia to take a swim. 😉 Goal: Become a kick ass confident recreational kayaker. And take a few overnight river trips.

Right after Thanksgiving last year, Rob and I learnt the basics of lead climbing at our home gym, Vertical Dreams (thanks, Mike!). We’re pretty psyched for spring to get here eventually so we can take our newfound skills outside. Goal: By the end of the season, lead a 5.10a outside.

I’m seriously crossing fingers for this goal, but here it goes – Goal: Go to the Summer 2013 Outdoor Retailer Show in SLC! I’ve been keeping up the OR fun from home for the past few years, and it’s officially time for me to just go and join in. It will be a great time to network, meet up with some longtime outdoor friends, and get a chance to drool over a ton of phenomenal gear.

And the last one… Goal: Don’t ignore the bucket list. Check things off, add new things, and never stop dreaming huge.

One way or another I’m going to get this year in gear. There might not be snowboarding sabbaticals or world travels planned, but 2013 is going to rock. How do I know? Because I said so. =D

What are your goals for 2013? Planning to confront any fears?

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2 thoughts on “Keep Trekking: 2013 Plans”

Hey Jillian, I just started doing 5.10s indoors, and I’m really itching to do 5.10s outdoors too. I haven’t done any lead climbing yet, but I’m taking a class soon, and really looking forward to it. If I don’t run into you guys through the meetup groups already, definitely let me know if you guys can use a climbing buddy when you head outdoors!

Liam! I meant to reply a few days ago, but this week has been flying by!

I’m solidly climbing 5.9’s indoors, experimenting on the more acrobatic 5.10’s, and can lead a 5.8 pretty comfortably. So, a 5.10 outside isn’t too far of a stretch for me… I think! I just want to be able to go to Rumney, Acadia, and places like that and not always be stuck on TR routes. And we’d love for you to join of course!

About Jillian Bejtlich

Hey! I'm Jillian Bejtlich. I’m a lifelong New Englander with a serious love of the outdoors, adventure, and a pretty serious inability to sit still. I’m plagued by the travel bug, and it seems I’ll try any relatively sane and safe thing once. My big goal in life: Get people outside!